Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman had a new variety-style game show. 100 audience members had each been given a sandwich bag full of fake gems of all sizes and colours. By the end of the show one lucky audience member would discover a real diamond inside their bag.

But the show was dragging on. I wanted to be elsewhere. I was in ongoing discussions with Helen Mirren to play the lead in a TV drama based on diaries I had bought in a junk shop.